But just exactly what happened between Michael D Higgins and the busker in Killarney, the Irish Independent can now reveal. The clip on YouTube shows the presidential hopeful on a canvass of Killarney on Thursday walking up Main Street where he spots a busker. Michael D takes a €5 note from his pocket and places it in the musician's open violin case but then stoops down and appears to pick up some change.

But rest assured, the scholar did no such thing. He's the thoughtful kind.

It was a windy day in the Co Kerry town and fearful that his donation would be carried away, Michael D simply weighed it down with change.